Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Photos At Last, Photos At Last.

Well its PIX TIME! Hooray! I have discovered that I can upload shit to Photobucket, and then somehow the photos are resized and stuff. I suspect witchcraft.

So....without further delay or bullshit........

This is one of the first photos of the trip. Here I am, at the bow of the sailboat heading towards party spot 1. You can see some of the cable stays, my feet, and the anchor windlass. The boat is moving south along the ICW, getting ready to pass under the Port Of Miami causeway. Government Cut and the turning basin are just behind me. I am looking at the Bayside area.

The boat I was on has been all over the place. This is the flag flying off the stern. Why is it not the American Flag? Because the boat is not registered in the USA. The flag on the stern is ALWAYS the national flag of the country of registry. In this case the UK. You also fly the flag of the Country whose waters you are in on the mast or flag staff. It is called a courtesy flag. Upon entering foreign waters you hoist the yellow "Q" flag and request customs clearance. The foreign customs agency tells you where to go and you go there. Then you are cleared into a port of entry. Your yellow "Q" flag signifies you are awaiting clearance. Once you are cleared, you lower the yellow flag and hoist the courtesy flag. When you enter international waters again you lower the courtesy flag and can fly the national ensign for the country of registry from the main staff.

Or something like that. The point is the boat I was on has been all over the place. The regular crew are well seasoned. They have been all over the place with the boat. It really is a different and cool lifestyle. You only have the stuff you need, and not a lot of extra crap. You have no room for a lot of crap, so that prevents you from collecting too much junk. Everything you have, you need. And everywhere you go, your house is with you. Want to go to Aruba? Just go! Pull up the anchor and go! When you get there, drop anchor someplace and there you are! Who needs a hotel room? Get sick of the place, or a revolution breaks out? LEAVE! No airport needed.

I kind of like this photo. It is the main sail and a yard arm.

Now this is another cool photo. Notice how the horizon is level. But that is all that is level. The boat you see in the wake is heeled over. And so is the boat I am in. That blue line is the tender. The angle you see the tender at is the same angle the whole sailboat is at. It takes some time to get used to walking around. But you get used to it fairly quick.

And finally, the boat cat. This cat lives on the boat. I think his job is to keep the birds away so the boat is not covered in shit. He looks nice - but piss him off and you will bleed. How do I know? Oh - no reason. I know better than to piss off a cat. But yet somehow I managed to end up bleeding. I was playing the "you try to bat at my hand while I try to touch your foot" game and lost. Should have known better. NEVER play that game with a cat that still has claws. You loose almost every time. But he is really a nice cat. He would come visit from time to time. You could pet him - to a point. Just do not piss him off and it was all good.

I am ready for Baynanza! I will be out in my boat Saturday. I will try to get some neat photos.

I thought of you this morning on my way to work. Someone abandoned an old boat and trailer by the side of the road, it is pretty sad. I think someone loved the boat once, but now it isn't worth even taking to a junk yard. I bet you would have treated her better.